Sometimes I like to read things that are not Internet Forums. I recently finished up what books I had been reading in my spare time, and wanted to see if anyone had some solid suggestions. As a kind of general idea of what I might be interested in, I have recently read: His Dark Materials City of Bone City of Glass City of Ash The Host I'm open to any solid suggestions, possibly willing to trade books with someone. 2009-09-28T10:46:08-04:00 54 2009-09-02T05:00:01-04:00 true 0 72671 false false 2329 997 1 2009-11-21T06:27:40-05:00 645 Do you like classics. Like that Darles Chickens? 72671 Post 2009-09-02T05:30:00-04:00 2284321 506 2009-09-02T05:30:00-04:00 I do. I grew up reading The Call of the Wild and other such books. 72671 Post 2009-09-02T05:37:01-04:00 2284361 997 2009-09-02T05:37:01-04:00 i'm not into fantasy novels, even Harry Potter. i prefer Leo Tolstoy and Jumpha Lahiri though. 72671 Post 2009-09-02T06:35:42-04:00 2284551 52881 2009-09-02T06:35:42-04:00 Heart of Darkness! 72671 Post 2009-09-02T06:52:52-04:00 2284601 3005 2009-09-02T06:52:52-04:00 heart of darkness is pretty good. watch Apocalypse Now to accompany it. i'd say 'on the road' and 'crime and punishment' are brilliant reads. 72671 Post 2009-09-02T06:57:56-04:00 2284641 12674 2009-09-02T06:57:56-04:00 I'm just re reading zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance. such a sick book. 72671 Post 2009-09-02T06:59:20-04:00 2284661 23401 2009-09-02T06:59:20-04:00 House of Leaves, Only Revolutions, Trainspotting! Not sure if it's what your into but I highly recommend House of Leaves if you want something different, it's actually quite a hard book to explain. 72671 Post 2009-09-02T07:13:16-04:00 2284711 6463 2009-09-02T07:14:21-04:00 My only prerequisite is that it's a really really good book. If you finished the book and didn't run around telling everyone how awesome it was, I'm probably not interested. earlymemoirs - I'm not opposed to Tolstoy. I'm not a Harry-Potter reader, either. As an appreciator of Tolstoy and his ideals about life and religion, I'd think you might appreciate His Dark Materials. The culmination of the final book is basically a commentary on organized religion and the real beauty in humanity. Although it's opposed to the christian outlook of Tolstoy, I think it speaks to all people on a basic level. I'm going to order Heart of Darkness today. wjb - That sounds interesting, but I've been into philosophy from so many angles, I kind of doubt that it would present anything life changing for me. I only listed books I've read for entertainment here, but as a means of studying, My recent reads include the works of Plato(all of the socratic dialogues), Notes on Sir Francis Bacon and his New Organon, and more. Several books on religion including Zen Buddhism, A world religion for dummies type of book, Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu, Bhagavad-Gita as it is, and a book on islam by a former shiite muslim which was basically propaganda. zmbkd - I'll look into those. 72671 Post 2009-09-02T08:13:12-04:00 2284931 997 2009-09-02T08:13:12-04:00 I purchased Heart of Darkness and House of leaves. I am still open to suggestions, I go through books pretty fast. 72671 Post 2009-09-02T08:31:00-04:00 2285121 997 2009-09-02T08:31:00-04:00 i really enjoyed House of Leaves. the last book i read was The Road, by Cormac McCarthy. i would recommend both of these books to people. 72671 Post 2009-09-02T08:31:06-04:00 2285131 41981 2009-09-02T08:31:06-04:00 The Road sounds amazing from the summaries I just read. Will definitely be reading in the near future. 72671 Post 2009-09-02T08:41:43-04:00 2285221 997 2009-09-02T08:41:43-04:00 Looking at your list, I'm not too sure if you'd like what I like. I usually recommend Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut, Lullaby or Survivor by Chuck Palahniuk. That's if you haven't read those yet. You got me interested in picking up a copy of The Host, though so thanks. 72671 Post 2009-09-02T08:57:18-04:00 2285331 42621 2009-09-02T08:57:18-04:00 If you've never read kerouac's on the road - definitely pick that up. beautiful book 72671 Post 2009-09-02T08:58:53-04:00 2285341 1056 2009-09-02T08:58:53-04:00 heavyprints, even if you have studied philosophy it is still a very entertaining book. It's presented in the form of a chautauqua, with lots of interesting twists and turns which are all factual events which happened to Pirsig. So although it may not cover any new ground, especially as it was written in the 80's. It still is an unbelievably good read. 72671 Post 2009-09-02T09:01:12-04:00 2285371 23401 2009-09-02T09:01:12-04:00 i just read Jumpha Lahiri's novel titled 'The Namesake'. It tells about Hindi immigrant life in usa and their tangled culture roots. I found it exciting since i witness such similar condition here in Indonesia. That's why i'm not pretty sure you'd be interested to this unless you want to know more about how messed up it is to be an asian today. 72671 Post 2009-09-02T09:11:25-04:00 2285421 52881 2009-09-02T09:11:56-04:00 Boone by Robert Morgan if you are into biographies is a good read. For all the people out there suggesting on the road I recommend checking out William Burroughs books titled Junky one of my favs. I like books by Bret Easton Ellis ie Less than Zero. If you want to read some good Vonnegut I recommend Cats Cradle. I got more... just not around my book case. If you are into poetry check out Ted Kooser! 72671 Post 2009-09-02T09:11:28-04:00 2285431 4774 2009-09-02T09:11:28-04:00 the Dune novels are amazing if your into sci-fi at all 72671 Post 2009-09-02T09:19:17-04:00 2285481 24881 2009-09-02T09:19:17-04:00 Helen and Sam - Yeah, I totally purchased it already. I got a little excited. Haha wjb - It's actually fairly common to present philosophy as a story, or formally, a Drama. It was debated for a long time whether or not Socrates was an actual person or just a Mechanism for Plato to explain his philosophies. I'm not saying it doesn't sound cool, I just don't think it's what I'm looking for right now. I will be checking out more of these suggestions soonish. 72671 Post 2009-09-02T09:21:25-04:00 2285521 997 2009-09-02T09:21:25-04:00 Without turning this into a debate (please don't). Look into a book called 23 minutes in hell. I know you are a intellegent man that studies all aspects of society so I really believe you will find it very interesting, believer or not. It's very interesting. Alot of my friends, who are very against any belief in God, loved the book 72671 Post 2009-09-02T09:25:00-04:00 2285571 5678 2009-09-02T09:25:00-04:00 lol I do like a good fiction book. 72671 Post 2009-09-02T09:27:45-04:00 2285621 997 2009-09-02T09:27:45-04:00 I read <b>Three to See the King</b> by <b>Magnus Mills</b> a few months ago and loved it, very quick read but well worth it. Also I loved <b>Apathy and Other Small Victories</b> by <b>Paul Neilan</b> 72671 Post 2009-09-02T09:38:02-04:00 2285751 1280 2009-09-02T09:42:58-04:00 the road is a good book indeed. check out the god delusion by richard dawkins. its a really interesting read and pretty eye opening overall. hes a professor at oxford i believe so its very well written. maybe youll become an atheist after too? if you pick it up at the bookstore, read the intro and if you dig how its going you will love the whole book. ny times best seller too 72671 Post 2009-09-02T09:52:34-04:00 2285881 1271 2009-09-02T09:52:34-04:00 I must confess I ran around for days telling everyone about Jarhead, the film is such a bag of wank compared to the film. 72671 Post 2009-09-02T10:08:10-04:00 2286051 9930 2009-09-02T10:08:10-04:00 <blockquote><cite>Michael Partridge said:</cite> I must confess I ran around for days telling everyone about Jarhead, the <b>film</b> is such a bag of wank compared to the <b>film</b>.</blockquote> Little mistake there? I suggest anything by Stephen King. I always enjoyed his books. James Herbert and Dean R. Koontz are pretty decent writers too. I have a lot of their books standing proud in my book case, a lot still to be read, haha (; 72671 Post 2009-09-02T10:31:56-04:00 2286341 25661 2009-09-02T10:32:37-04:00 anything by Kerouac 2001 A space Odyssey. Papillon Prozac Nation Bolivian Diary any book by Dean Koontz any book by Fyodor Dostoyevsky One Flew Over the Cuckoos nest Ian Banks- The Wasp Factory. any book by Bukowski any book by Will Self. The God Delusion Tricks of The Mind 72671 Post 2009-09-02T11:49:10-04:00 2286971 2802 2009-09-02T11:49:10-04:00 http://derrenbrown.co.uk/blog/recommended-reading/ 72671 Post 2009-09-02T11:52:38-04:00 2287031 2802 2009-09-02T11:52:38-04:00 I was hoping you would chime in. Thanks brother. Totally reading "The God Delusion" soon, although I don't think I need any help being atheist lol 72671 Post 2009-09-02T11:53:44-04:00 2287051 997 2009-09-02T11:53:44-04:00 Patient Zero: A Joe Ledger Novel 72671 Post 2009-09-02T11:56:42-04:00 2287071 12157 2009-09-02T11:56:42-04:00 <blockquote><cite>godmachine said:</cite> anything by Kerouac 2001 A space Odyssey. Papillon Prozac Nation Bolivian Diary any book by Dean Koontz any book by Fyodor Dostoyevsky One Flew Over the Cuckoos nest Ian Banks- The Wasp Factory. any book by Bukowski any book by Will Self. The God Delusion Tricks of The Mind</blockquote> I'm going to have to check these out 72671 Post 2009-09-02T11:57:26-04:00 2287081 12157 2009-09-02T11:57:26-04:00 Orbiting the Giant Hairball: A Corporate Fool's Guide to Surviving with Grace I just remembered this is good. It's about one of the dudes that worked for hallmark greeting cards and how he got all burned out and then found a love for arts again or something. 72671 Post 2009-09-02T11:57:49-04:00 2287091 506 2009-09-02T11:57:49-04:00 <blockquote><cite>heavyprints said:</cite> I was hoping you would chime in. Thanks brother. Totally reading "The God Delusion" soon, although I don't think I need any help being atheist lol</blockquote> such a sick book. some of richard dawkins' arguments are so good, such as: if there is no way that we could exist without a creator, then surely our creator needed to have a creator as well and so on... 72671 Post 2009-09-02T12:17:45-04:00 2287251 23401 2009-09-02T12:17:45-04:00 Let's not turn this into a religious discussion, forreal. My comment earlier was just a pop at Levi. I have several friends on Emptees who are Christian and I am not in the mood to get all into it on the message boards today. I'm really open about my thoughts on religion, and I enjoy discussing them, I just don't feel like this is the forum. We've been there before, the maturity level is just not here. Feel free to email me with your thoughts on religion, or if you'd like, I will set up a forum on my own website where we can bring all types of people in to argue about it. Alright? Alright. 72671 Post 2009-09-02T12:25:07-04:00 2287341 997 2009-09-02T12:25:07-04:00 Robert Heinlein, P.K. Dick, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard... 72671 Post 2009-09-02T12:30:09-04:00 2287411 5738 2009-09-02T12:30:09-04:00 god delusion=awesome god is not great=terrible anyway, if you havent read Thus Spoke Zarathustra (nietzsche) you have to go read it, like right now. get the Kaufmann translation though. after you read his translations of neitzsche youll never be able to read anyone elses. The Varieties of Scientific Experiment by Carl Sagan is amazing! I'm currently reading it, so im obviously not finished, but i have never been dissapointed by Sagan. On the Nature of Things, yeaaaa. Lucretius, loveittt. Id hope youve already read the hitchhikers guide to the universe series, but if not id go pick that up too. douglas adams is absolutely incredible. theres a really somber part in the god delusion where dawkins seems to stop writing and he just says something along the lines of 'i miss you douglas.' siddhartha by hesse, anyone? i also kind of really really like to read david hume, alot. i know kant casts quite the shadow over hume, but id look into him. his enquiry concerning the principal of morals is really good, as is his dialogues concerning natural religion. anything sound good heavy? 72671 Post 2009-09-02T12:40:53-04:00 2287501 1208 2009-09-02T12:40:53-04:00 i recently just read Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. itll change the way you look at things; check it out! 72671 Post 2009-09-02T12:42:10-04:00 2287531 11562 2009-09-02T12:42:10-04:00 James pattersons double cross is amaizing, you should probably read all his books because their all really good 72671 Post 2009-09-02T14:30:01-04:00 2289271 8874 2009-09-02T14:30:01-04:00 sorry, couldnt resist this one: "George Bush says he speaks to god every day, and christians love him for it. If George Bush said he spoke to god through his hair dryer, they would think he was mad. I fail to see how the addition of a hair dryer makes it any more absurd." Unknown 72671 Post 2009-09-02T14:56:42-04:00 2289471 2802 2009-09-02T14:56:42-04:00 For comedy, there is none better than Christopher Moore. Choice books would be "Lamb, the Gospel According to Biff", "The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove", "Practical Demonkeeping", and "Fool", among others. For fantasy, I've been reading the Legend of Drizzt Series by R.A. Salvatore. It is 13+ books about a dark elf with your typical Forgotten Realms settings. It is a most excellent series. For straight sci-fi, I would recommend the Dune trilogy the "The Butlerian Jihad", "The Machine Crusade", and "The Battle of Corrin." Great intelligent machine vs. man storyline, massive space battles, etc. For philosophy (or higher reasoning), "The Data of Ethics" by Herbert Spencer is interesting. 72671 Post 2009-09-02T15:02:00-04:00 2289541 3028 2009-09-02T15:14:36-04:00 I ordered three books and so far have only received one of them. I am currently reading "The Heart of Darkness" and about 3 pages in I am not impressed. This book reads like a loveletter from the author, to the author. It's ridiculously wordy to the point that it is barely coherent. I feel like an authors job is to convey a story, and when you muddle the story behind all of this ridiculous rigmarole, you fail. When people set type the idea is for the type to be invisible, all but to accentuate whatever is written with it, and help to make it more clearly defined. I feel like writing should be done in a similar manner. I haven't gotten very far, but that's my initial impression. 72671 Post 2009-09-16T03:21:02-04:00 2495631 997 2009-09-16T03:21:02-04:00 A Scanner Darkly 72671 Post 2009-09-16T03:31:18-04:00 2495731 33601 2009-09-16T03:31:18-04:00 I read reference science and evolution books, and a lot of comics (mostly non-superhero type comics). If you're into comics at all I can help there. Also, I've been meaning to pick up "The Strain" by Guillermo Del Toro, maybe check that out? While I'm here, anybody know any good books on evolution? 72671 Post 2009-09-16T03:49:04-04:00 2495821 58171 2009-09-16T03:49:04-04:00 <a href="http://www.audible.com/adbl/site/products/ProductDetail.jsp?productID=BK_AVEN_000001&BV_UseBVCookie=Yes">FREE: The Future of a Radical Price By Chris Anderson</a> Blurb: Anderson points to the growth of the reputation economy; explains different models for unleashing the power of Free; and shows how to compete when your competitors are giving away what you're trying to sell. To drive the point home this wacknut is selling his book for, you guessed it FREE. 72671 Post 2009-09-16T04:01:15-04:00 2496021 506 2009-09-16T04:01:15-04:00 i finished "holy Blood, Holy Grail"( by Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh and Henry Lincoln.) a while back, and although it felt a little like wading through names towards the middle it brought up some interesting ideas regarding religion. also: House of leaves was GREAT! one of the best books ive read this year, decoding the letter in the back was especially fun and the type layout was inspiring! The last book i read was "belching out the devil" by Mark Thomas, great reporting and a scary insight into Coca cola. i suggest all of the above! 72671 Post 2009-09-16T06:16:45-04:00 2497051 11020 2009-09-16T06:16:45-04:00 By recommending Heart of Darkness I was just getting back at you for your <a href="http://www.thisisabiscuit.com">biscuit</a> stance Heavy. (Kidding, I liked that book when I read it.) 72671 Post 2009-09-16T07:26:21-04:00 2497481 3005 2009-09-16T07:27:38-04:00 Don't know if it has been mentioned yet but I have recently decided to try and tackle "Infinite Jest". An insanely dense book that is so far one of the funniest and saddest books I have ever read. Really good read. 72671 Post 2009-09-16T09:41:37-04:00 2498731 1644 2009-09-16T09:41:48-04:00 The Accountants Story - The brother of <b>Pablo Escobar</b> tells all. 72671 Post 2009-09-16T11:02:37-04:00 2499591 3775 2009-09-16T11:02:37-04:00 Valis - Philip K Dick anything by Kurt Vonnegut - Just read Mother Night and it was really good Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card For Whom The Bell Tolls - Hemingway 72671 Post 2009-09-16T11:23:16-04:00 2499781 6815 2009-09-16T11:23:16-04:00 <img src="http://www.bookworm.ph/wp-content/uploads/wpsc/product_images/timallen.jpg" /> 72671 Post 2009-09-16T11:32:31-04:00 2499831 881 2009-09-16T11:32:31-04:00 <blockquote><cite>Sam Kaufman said:</cite> If you've never read kerouac's on the road - definitely pick that up. beautiful book</blockquote> This is good, Nick. Also, I enjoy the book "The Giver". Jennifer had me read it. If you go through the kids' section in the bookstores, they have some of the best books. 72671 Post 2009-09-16T11:36:24-04:00 2499861 2961 2009-09-16T11:36:24-04:00 One of my favorite classics of all time is Catch-22...absurdly hilarious and timeless...a must-read. Also, how come no mention of Tom Robbins? "Even Cowgirls Get the Blues" is amazing and "Another Roadside Attraction" was on Elvis' nightstand when he died. <blockquote><cite>Derisory Designs said:</cite> Don't know if it has been mentioned yet but I have recently decided to try and tackle "Infinite Jest". An insanely dense book that is so far one of the funniest and saddest books I have ever read. Really good read.</blockquote> Good luck with that...you'll be the only person besides the author to finish it. And don't forget the 300 pages of footnotes!! 72671 Post 2009-09-16T12:16:12-04:00 2500361 10680 2009-09-16T12:16:12-04:00 <img src="http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/images/n61/n305368.jpg"> i stopped reading books entirely after i read this. nothing compares to its sheer awesomeness! lmfao. 72671 Post 2009-09-16T12:20:00-04:00 2500431 10321 2009-09-16T12:20:00-04:00 Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.'s books! 72671 Post 2009-09-16T12:23:00-04:00 2500471 24821 2009-09-16T12:23:37-04:00 Right, so I'm reading House of Leaves right now. At what point did this book strike you guys as amazing? I'm about half way through the book(not including the several appendixes I have read, per footnotes - including a chapters worth of letters from his mother), and although it has certainly had its share of enjoyable parts, I feel like most of the book has been winnowing through superfluous crap, in hopes of coming to another good part. As it stands now, it's a decent book, but I wouldn't run around recommending it to everyone I know. Does it get better towards the end, then? Also, The Road should be getting here any day. Looking forward to reading that one. 72671 Post 2009-09-28T09:47:47-04:00 2652451 997 2009-09-28T09:47:47-04:00 The Hunger Games. Check that one out. The second book in the series is either coming out or has already come out. 72671 Post 2009-09-28T10:46:08-04:00 2653151 2329 2009-09-28T10:46:08-04:00